Page 55 of Celestia, Year Four

"At night? Why? Are you a vampire?" I asked with a curious look. "You're very pretty for a vampire."

The woman giggled and shook her head.

"No, I'm not a vampire, but I could only train at night because my other half trained during the day."

"Other half… so you’re like two people?!" I exclaimed and put my hands up. "That's so cool!"

"It is… but I won't be able to see her much longer."

"Why not? You guys are halves? Like peanut butter and jelly! Though… I like Nutella. It's nice."

The woman smiled, and I noticed she was on the verge of tears which made me frown. "Do you really miss her?"

"I do. She doesn't remember me."

"HUH?! Why not! How can she forget you! You're so pretty and nice!" I was shocked. "I can go remind her for you?"

The woman giggled and shook her head.

"It's not her fault. See, the reason I was allowed to stay was that she didn't have all her powers. So I was like a guardian to her. Now she has all the power she was meant to carry in this world."

"So… that means she doesn't need you anymore?" I whispered, my shoulders sinking in disappointment.

"Ya. She doesn't need her other half anymore. She's whole now without me."

"But… but… she'll miss you." I sniffed, tears beginning to pool in my eyes. The woman smiled, her pink and purple eyes filling with tears.

"I know she will. That's why it's best that she forgets. It would only make her cry, just like how you're crying." She wrapped her arms around me, giving me a tight hug.

"But that's so sad. What if she didn't want to forget you?! You're her friend. She loved you. Are you going to leave her forever?" I began to sob into the woman's shoulder and she rubbed my back.

"I'm still inside her… just not for long. I know she loved me. She gave me a life I never got to really enjoy."

I pulled back to stare into her watery eyes and she lifted her hands to rub the tears from my cheeks.

"But..."

"You want to know a secret?"

I thought about it for a moment and nodded my head quickly. "Yes, please!"

"Before I was a half, I used to have a kingdom, family, friends, and lovers. They were what brightened my day and made me happy, but the one thing I really wanted was a child."

"A child? Like me!"

"Yes, a child. She'd start as a baby and grow until she reached adulthood and have a family of her own. I never got a chance to do that then. But, being the half of this amazing, loving woman, gave me the chance to know what it would be like."

"It… did?"

"Yes. I got to help her grow every day. When she was asleep, I'd watch all the memories she made for the day, and how she'd laugh or cry when she was frustrated. I got to watch her grow in my own way, and when she struggled, I'd help her. I watched her learn more about herself and become stronger with her familiar. I got to witness her meet new friends, as well as fight scarymonsters and enemies. Each time she accomplished something, it felt like I'd done my job. Kinda like I was her mom, making sure she took the right steps."

I stared at her with great focus, wanting to listen to the rest.

"I got to watch her fall in love and to learn the goods and bads of loving another person. Even when times were hard, she didn't give up, and what I loved most about her was she never judged a book by its cover. She loved the person that was inside. The soul that our physical bodies carry. Appearances or the type of shifter the person was didn't matter to her. It was the personality and being you were on the inside that was what she cared about, and when she loved, she did it without holding back."

"She sounds like a princess." I smiled. "She'd be a good Queen one day. Like in the fairytales."

The woman nodded and reached out to fix the crown that was on my head.

---